What are NFTs and how do people make millions of dollars from them?

NFT is a non-fungible token. NFTs operate on the Ethereum blockchain. The blockchain, in turn, is a ledger of records. Like any cryptocurrency: bitcoin or ether, such tokens can be stored in your crypto wallet and transactions can be made with them, buying and selling them.

What is its special feature?

▫️Uniqueness. NFT has no analogue, while digital currencies or money can easily replace each other.

▫️Scarcity. For the value of NFTs to be preserved, their supply must be limited.

▫️Indivisibility. You can transfer 0.2 bitcoin, but not 0.2 NFT token.

▫️Authenticity guarantee. NFTs allow you to track the authenticity of an asset and see its ownership history.

What can be sold using it?

Mostly, NFT tokens become digital objects. Examples include: paintings, photographs, music, game items, collectible cards.

Practice shows that tokens are gaining popularity among artists. This makes it easier for them to connect directly with buyers through marketplaces and sell their works without intermediaries.

Where can you buy them?

NFT tokens are sold on special marketplaces where payments are made in cryptocurrency. There are many platforms, but the most popular include:

▪️OpenSea — the largest platform existing in 2022;

▪️Axie Infinity — here game items are sold, and by daily trading volume, it ranks second after OpenSea;

▪️SuperRare — focused on the Digital Art sector. Allows artists to post their works, but only after strict selection.

▪️Rarible — one of the most promising platforms for NFT trading, as it has $14.2 million for development.

 Kazakh paintings by prisoners are now on an NFT auction

In the republican contest of painting and applied arts among convicts — "Үміт-2021" — 25 paintings were presented, 4 of which were converted into NFT tokens. The auction took place on the NFT marketplace Mintable, where the starting price for one painting was 0.1 ETH (ether) or approximately 180 thousand tenge. The proceeds from the contest participants were planned to be donated to charity.

China will create its own NFT market

China will have its own NFT market, under the jurisdiction of the authorities. Payments on it will be made only in Chinese yuan, because the circulation of cryptocurrencies in the country is prohibited by law since September 2021. The blockchain BSN, supported by the Chinese authorities, will create infrastructure for the non-fungible token market and marketplaces where they can be sold.

The three most expensive NFTs in history

In March 2021, the electronic painting "Everydays: The First 5000 Days" by artist Beeple and its associated NFT token were sold for $69.3 million.

In November 2021, another work by artist Beeple titled "Human One" and its associated NFT token were sold for $28.9 million.

In July 2021, a rare NFT token "Alien" from the CryptoPunks collection was sold for $11.8 million. CryptoPunks, in turn, is a collection of 10 thousand digital avatars in the form of people, monkeys, aliens, etc.

Conclusion or NFT token in simple terms

An NFT token is a unique digital certificate stored in the blockchain that guarantees a set of certain rights to digital property. For example, when buying an apartment, ownership rights to it are registered in the Unified State Real Estate Register, which contains all information about the acquired property. Similarly, with an NFT token, the registry record is already in the blockchain, which helps protect copyright.